Wedding Cake

A wedding is one of the most important days in the lives of any couple and traditionally no wedding is complete without a beautiful, tiered wedding cake.

Traditionally wedding cakes are made to a fruit cake recipe covered in almond paste and then iced in a white sugar paste icing. The cake usually comprises of at least two tiers separated by pillars and decorated to tie in with the theme and colour scheme of the wedding.

The wedding cake can be decorated with jewels, flowers, iced butterflies and seed pearls to name but a few then the figure of a bride and groom placed on the very top to represent the joining of two people in holy matrimony.

It is thought that the wedding cake dates back as far as the Romans, where a loaf of barley bread would be made especially for the couple's up and coming nuptials. After the ceremony the groom would eat part of the bread and break the other half over the head of his wife which was supposed to signify the end of the woman’s virginity.

In medieval times a stack of sweet buns would be placed in front of the happy couple and if they were successful in kissing over the top without knocking down the stack it was thought to be a good omen that many children would be born onto the family.

In the 17th century a wedding cake was called a brides pie which would be made with sweetbreads, mince or mutton. The pie would contain a glass ring which was supposed to signify imminent marriage for its finder.

In the 19th century the sweet fruit cakes that we are more familiar with today became very popular these were then iced in white which was more of a practical decision because ingredients were very hard to source. The whiter the cake the more refined the icing sugar and therefore the more affluent the family.

The white cake was believed to signify purity and to draw attention to the bride and her innocence and imminent loss of virginity (in much the same way as a white bridal gown, hence the term whitewedding). Traditionally the first job that would be performed by the newlyweds was the cutting of the cake to signify unity and togetherness.

It was believed that if you went to sleep with a crumb of wedding cake under your pillow you would dream about your ideal partner and would therefore not go on to marry the wrong person.

The wedding cakes of today are a much more important and integral part of the whole affair there are different options to suit the personal requirements of any bride.

Here is a list of some of the most popular types of wedding cake on offer at the moment:

The wedding cake that a couple decide on is often a reflection of their own particular style and taste there are thousands of different variations roughly following the same guidelines. The ideal wedding cake should be a breathtaking unique centrepiece which is why you can arrive at one wedding to see a six tiered water fountain cascading down the side of the cake or you can go to a different wedding and find a black iced, gothic cake decorated with red roses and lace.

One certainty is that the wedding cake is definitely here to stay and depending on your budget and preferences there are thousands of confectioners willing to make the wedding cake of your dreams come true.